by Jordan Marie
Proof? Do I dare check this shit out? If something is bad, would Nic even believe me? Maybe if I had something to back me up? One of the things I am the most ashamed of, the thing that I keep hidden away, down deep inside, is the fact that once upon a time, I liked Michael. I liked him a lot. I didn’t fight the marriage because he was rich, powerful, and sexy. He was all the things that a stupid girl who had no experience in the world could want. I liked him. I wanted him. Eventually, I woke up and I tried to run, but even then, I had no idea how bad he truly was. It took him beating me, basically raping me while taking my virginity, to show me the monster I said ‘I do’ to. What if Nicole is just like I was? What if I don’t talk to her and ignore Tiny. Will Nicole turn a blind eye to all of the red flags, just like I did?
I beat down the panic I feel at just the small remembrances of Michael and my past. I look Tiny in the eye and do my best to act like I don’t have a fuck to give.
“Show me,” I tell him, hoping the so-called proof he has is nothing to worry about. I’m concerned though, because Tiny looks way too cocky.
Creepy. The description fits Tiny completely. He even has the cliché beady eyes and greasy hair. Suddenly, I am even more thankful for Beast, and this strange friendship I have with him. Tiny gives a whole new meaning to your judgment may be impaired when mixing medication and alcohol. He walks over beside me and gives me his phone.
On it are pictures, not great quality, but I can still see Dragon torturing some man. My world tilts and the vision changes in my mind. I’m not seeing the photos at all now. Suddenly, I’m transported back into my hospital room. Michael is standing beside me and it’s his phone I’m holding. His phone showing me a video of Ms. Martens. Michael killing someone who cared about me, just because she tried to help save me.
It takes me a minute to breathe and even longer before I realize it isn’t Michael I’m looking at in these pictures. Still, I make my mind up immediately. I have to show Nic. I have to get us away and into safety. She needs to see what Dragon is capable of before it’s too late for her. Like it was for me. With that in mind, I text her and head out with Tiny on a mission.
Okay, so I may have jumped into the fire without thought. Tiny had a member of Skull’s crew drop us off at the house Nicole and I share. He didn’t want to drive—in case we partied later. Yeah, I hated to be the one to break it to him, but that was not happening.
“Maybe you and your girl will party after this. You owe me, Beast kept you to himself and didn’t share,” he says, and his voice and words make me want to hurl. Definitely need to watch the meds and alcohol mixing.
“I don’t party with other women, Tiny.” Or men…or you…like ever, I add silently.
He doesn’t respond and a few minutes later we pull up to mine and Nic’s place. My beat up old car is in the driveway, and I’m glad. I’ll use it to get away from Tiny later, because seriously his creep-o vibe is registering off the charts. Our ride drives off and leaves me alone with Tiny. I fight the urge to plead for the guy to stay. Instead, I walk to the front door and reach in my pocket to get my keys to let us in. Tiny immediately grabs the keys out of my hand and unlocks the door—then pockets them. I start to demand he give them back, but it’s not worth the hassle. Nic will have hers, so we can easily get away from Tiny. All these thoughts settle me, I like having contingency plans—a safety net.
When we get inside Tiny’s quiet, and I’m good with that. I do nothing to invite conversation. He goes into the kitchen and talks on his cell phone. He’s whispering, and I can’t make out what he’s saying, but I don’t really care. I’m here for one reason and as soon as that’s done, Tiny will be a bad memory. He will pale in comparison to the nightmares I pack around. I only need get Nicole to listen to me. Then we can work out the rest together. My eyes stay glued to the clock, and eventually we hear a car pull up. Tiny cusses when he looks out the window.
“Your girl brought a friend,” he says, and my heartbeat kicks up in speed.
If Dragon is with her, there is no way I will be able to talk to her and she needs to know. Tiny goes and stands behind the door and pulls out a gun. A sick feeling of heat from the inside covers me, and I seriously might hurl. I don’t want this. I need to get control here. Badass Dani needs to take over.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Oh, but that doesn’t sound badass at all. That sounds full of fear, which is what I am now. I need to warn Nic, but I don’t want a showdown with Dragon and Tiny. I know Dragon will win, and then he’ll turn his anger on me and Nic. Fuck, why didn’t I demand we find Beast and take him with us?
“Cool your jets, I’m not going to shoot him, at least not yet. I just need to put her guy out of commission if you’re going to talk to her,” he says calmly, and the smile on his face unnerves me.
It’s not like I trust him to begin with, but I’m starting to think there is more behind Tiny’s offer to help than I realized. Shit. It doesn’t matter, I’ll show Nic the pictures, and together we’ll ditch Tiny and get the fuck out of this town. Screw getting Beast and Skull’s help, I can use Michael’s money to get us to Mexico and set us up somewhere safe. Safe. God, I need safe.
Seconds later, the door opens and Tiny immediately uses the butt of his gun to hit the guy with Nic on the head. Nailer, I think he’s called. I’ve seen him when I dance. I wince, wishing he hadn’t gotten hurt, but glad it’s him there instead of Dragon. I don’t think Dragon would have gone down so easily. Nailer does however, with a horrible thud. Nic screams and Tiny pulls her into the house, trying to muffle the sound with his arm. She looks over at me and my stomach lurches. I do my best to remain even-keeled. I need to calm Nic down, get her to listen, and then we both need to get the fuck away from Tiny and out of here.
“Calm down, Nic. It’s not what you think. Tiny and I are trying to save you. Girl, you just don’t know what that man you are with has done.”
Nic is elbowing Tiny, and I look at him in frustration. He finally let’s her go.
“Are you crazy?” she asks, getting down on her hands and knees to check on Nailer.
She probably has a valid point. I’ve been crazy for so long, I don’t know any other way. I need to make her understand. If Dragon, turns his anger on her like Michael did me…if she has to endure the things I did…I can’t let that happen to Nic. I just can’t let that happen to anyone else.
“Nic, I had to get you away from that club. You don’t know what they’re doing!” I say walking to her and trying to pull her away from Nailer. We need to get out of here.
“Have you lost your freaking mind?” she questions again. My panic is increasing; this is not working out like I had it planned in my head.
“Nic!”
“Dani! How the fuck do you know anything is going on? You spent what? A couple nights with this asshole and decide everything he’s telling you is the fucking truth?”
“He has pictures, Nic. You need to see what Dragon did to his own man! Here look at them! You can’t stay with him Nic, he’ll hurt you!”
I can’t keep the panic out of my voice. I’m saving Nic, right? I’m giving her a lifeline I never got. Why is it not working? She takes the camera out of my hands and starts looking at it. I step back. It’ll get better now. She’ll see him killing Ms. Martens…no that’s not right. She’ll see him killing one of his own, and she’ll see that we have to get away. We need to make ourselves safe.
“Why do you have these pictures?” Nic asks, so calm. She gives me this look of disgust and my soul feels…wounded. Nic is my best friend. Her and Ray are my only friends in the world. How can she see those pictures, be calm, and look at me like I’m the piece of shit? What am I missing? Is the whole world okay with men killing and hurting others? Why does it feel like Nicole is betraying…me?
“Tiny is in charge of following Dragon and his crew when they’re in Skull’s city to make sure they don’t do shit like this! Nic, you can’t be so far gone over Dragon that you don’t see how wrong this is!”
>
“Get the fuck out of my house!” she yells, throwing the phone across the room.
“Not going to happen, bitch,” Tiny says smugly. When I see the look on his face, I feel my panic nearly drown me. No! This is not how it is supposed to go down.
“What do you want from me?” Nic growls at Tiny.
“To play with you, sweet cheeks. Maybe I’ll do you and your girl at the same time. Dani here likes to party. The more the merrier, right baby?”
I try to concentrate on what they are saying. I know it’s not good, but a panic attack has me in its sights. The room is starting to tilt and swirl; the noise around me is distorted. I can’t hear what they are saying, but the anger in Nic’s face is clear. I try to concentrate on it and use that to ground me and keep the fear at bay.
“…Now, enough of this shit. Strip before I decide your fat ass is more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Tiny baby stop it, you’re going to scare Nic. Besides, I told you I don’t party with other women,” I argue, when I hear the shit he is spouting. I’m starting to think I underestimated Tiny, and how truly vile he is. I need to distract him so Nic can get out of here. I try to let her know that with my eyes. I never meant to put her in more danger. I just needed her to see what Dragon does. I want her safe, but right now the main threat to both of us is Tiny.
I count backwards from one hundred in my mind and promise to wash my mouth out with soap and shower a thousand times as I kiss, Tiny. I do the fake movements Michael always seemed to like. Pulling my leg up against his hip and unbuttoning his shirt.
80, 79, 78, 77…
Tiny pushes me away, but I see the sick look in his eyes. I’ll kill myself before he ever touches me. I never want another man near my body. The only time I ever think of sex is when I’m drunk and high on meds, we’ve seen how well that works out. I ignore the name Crusher that drifts through my thoughts.
“Come on over here. Let me see what you got,” Tiny orders Nicole.
She walks towards us, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. I can’t blame her. I try to keep the tears away, but I know I’m failing. I only wanted to save Nic from the life I have and it’s going horribly wrong and worse, Nic doesn’t even seem to want to leave Dragon.
“Take off your shirt. I want to see the merchandise.”
I can’t let Nic do this. I’m about to push her away and jump on Tiny with my nails, my fists, my legs, my teeth anything and everything I can and let her run, when I see she is palming a knife. I hope she goes for his jugular. If she can stab him in the neck he’ll go down and we can run.
We need to run—preferably to Mexico.
“Oh yeah, look at those big-ass tits. I’m definitely going to bury my cock in those fuckers. I think you’re starting to grow on me, puta.”
I want to kill him. If Nic doesn’t kill him, I will. I have a lot of pent up rage, maybe I should let that out for a change.
“I’ve never done anything like this…”
I grab my hands to keep them from shaking. I need to be ready to help Nic, and to make sure she gets away.
“That’s okay puta, lucky for you I have.”
As Nic gets closer to him, I take a step back to give her more room to swing, while giving me more room to get a running start to attack him, in case she fails.
“Should I…take my bra off?” she asks, and I want to scream. Can’t she just attack already? There are black dots swirling in front of my eyes, and I’m fighting to breathe through them. The last thing Nic or I need is for me to pass out, it doesn’t happen often, but it can during my panic attacks.
“Oh yeah, show ole’ Tiny what you got for him.”
Nicole screams as she stabs him. She didn’t go for the neck, but it seems to work, because Tiny falls back on the couch cussing. Nic and I look at each other while we both yell for the other to run. When we discover that neither of us have keys, my heart flips in my chest.
“We have to hit the hills. We’ll circle around and come back out on the main road by Dragon’s compound!” she says.
I don’t agree, but I can’t keep arguing, so we run. I don’t know how long we go. I know it’s been awhile, but it feels like forever. We’re walking in circles, and mostly in silence now. Nic is pissed. I feel horrible about the mess I created. It’s just another sign of how fucked up I am. Maybe Michael is right, and I am nothing but a worthless waste of air? How many times did he tell me the world would be a better place if I would fucking end myself? Maybe I should listen to him…
I’ve tried to defend myself with Nic. I’ve tried warning her further about Dragon. She’s not listening. She said they were taking revenge for what was done to that girl who was beaten. I find it hard to believe. Why would they care? They were so callous about her that night at the house. In my experience, men don’t care about anything if it doesn’t pertain to them. I’m so tired. I thought escaping Michael would give me a life, a chance to be…normal. That hasn’t worked out. I’ve only managed to hold on because of Nic and Ray. And now, Nic is so upset with me. If I lose her…
“I’m sorry, Nic,” I say again, because without Nic, I don’t think I could go on.
“Forget it. I understand, but you’ve got to trust me when I tell you Dragon is nothing like Michael,” she responds.
I hope she’s right. I really do.
“Should we try getting off the trail and sliding down the mountain to see if it might end up near the road?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady, knowing we’re so high up, sliding might be more dangerous than facing Tiny and whatever goons he’s called for help. I think of Beast and the betrayal I feel in my gut…it hurts. Why did I trust him?
“Hell if I know at this point, Dani. You know my parent’s. Our trips to Lexington and Louisville were their idea of hiking. I don’t know shit about climbing hills—or directions apparently.”
“Did you hear that?” I ask. Someone is following us, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been. I stare at Nicole. I can’t panic. I can’t. I show Nicole a big rock behind me, we’ll have to hide behind there. It’s not much, but it’s better than being out in the open. We crouch down behind it, and I grab her hand hard. God never hears me pray, but I pray that he makes sure Nicole makes it through this.
“Alright bitch, it’s time for you two to come out. I know you’re here, Irish tells me I don’t have time to watch you squirm anymore.”
“It’s time we finish the game,” a strange voice calls from in front of the rock.
As further proof God hates me, my prayers are not only unanswered—my boss, the man who offered us an escape to London, Kentucky, is now standing behind us while the other guy had us distracted. He’s pointing a gun at us. Shit.
“Irish?” Nicole questions.
“Sorry Nic, just business. You got caught up in it. It’s time Dragon is brought down and sadly girl, you are a sure way to keep him so wrapped up in his head he has no idea what’s going on,” he says, pulling her away from me.
He grabs me by my hair at the same time, pointing the gun at my temple walking us around the rock and making sure Nicole leads the way. I don’t fight or scream. I’m trying to figure out a way to save Nicole.
“How can you betray Dragon like this? He thinks of you as his brother?” Nic asks. In a lot of ways, she’s naïve. Men don’t need a reason to be cruel. They just are. The two of them go back and forth, and I tune them out. I need to find a way out of this.
“Fucking shut it. What are you doing telling this whore our business?” The first voice we heard yells. I had forgot about him.
I swing around to look at who it is and see...evil. I see the same anger and hate in him that has been in Michael’s eyes every time he hit me. Irish is a dumbass; he won’t survive this. This guy will kill him, easily.
“What does it matter anyway? She’ll be dead and we’ll be long gone by the time Dragon finds her or her friend,” Irish maintains.
They argue back and forth a little longer, and I can he
ar Nicole’s voice, but I can’t concentrate. They’re discussing mine and Nicole’s death. I can’t let her die. I need to get them focused on me to give her a chance to get away. If they aim their anger at me she might have a little more time to get away. I fucked up so bad. Nicole would never be in this situation if not for me. I was trying to save her and instead…I’ve killed both of us.
“Well, since you’re doing the world a favor and ridding it of morons, maybe you could turn the gun on yourself,” I say, trying to sound cocky. I need to draw them away from Nic. I must.
The man doesn’t react like I thought he would though. In my experience men enjoy hitting and beating up their trophies first. Apparently not this guy, because he shoots me. I feel the sharp pain in my leg in unison with the sound of the gun going off. Nic is screaming as I go down. Again, I want to focus, but I can’t. All I can feel is the white-hot agony of Nic pushing at my wound and the warm liquid pouring against my skin. I want to look and see the wound, but everything is going black.
6
Crusher
How do you know when your ass is sewn up over a woman? You see her lying in a pool of blood. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. My world stops for the space of a minute, and my heart actually hurts. I’m in deep, and I haven’t even had my goddamned tongue in her mouth.
When I got to the top of the mountain to find Irish, an original member of our club, had shot not only Dani, but Nicole too, I thought it was a nightmare. I was afraid the club had a traitor, but a brother who helped create the Savage MC? Never. A brother who fought with us overseas betraying the club cut so fucking deep, there just wasn’t words. It still hasn’t fully sunk in. I haven’t had time to think about it, because we had to rush both women to the hospital.
One of the bullets that lodged in Dani’s leg, nicked an artery. If not for Nicole trying to stall the blood and having a compress wedged against it, I would have lost her. She’s undergoing emergency surgery. I’ve stayed close, waiting for word that she’ll be okay. The other brothers are with Dragon, because Nicole is in bad shape. Don’t get me wrong, I’m worried about her too. Still, it just didn’t seem right that everyone has turned their backs on Dani and left her alone. I get the feeling the girl has been left alone a lot in her life.